Letter to Congress on Passing an FY15 Omnibus Bill

November 13, 2014

Dear Member of Congress:

On behalf of the three million members of the National Education Association (NEA), and the students they serve, we urge Congress to return to regular order by passing an omnibus appropriations bill for Fiscal Year (FY) 2015 that includes Labor-HHS-Education, as opposed to another Continuing Resolution (CR).

An omnibus appropriations bill would allow Congress to prioritize critical formula grant programs that are so essential to addressing inequities and providing targeted help to students in poverty, children with disabilities, and those most in need of extra assistance. For example, it provides the opportunity for Congress to target investments such as Title I and IDEA. Formula grants like these provide more funding certainty to states and local school districts rather than competitive grants which typically create winners and losers, leaving too many students behind.

We urge Congress to work in a bipartisan fashion to craft an omnibus bill that prioritizes formula-funded education grant programs that help our neediest students. Congress should continue the progress begun with the bipartisan work of the FY2014 Murray-Ryan budget deal and enact a year-long omnibus to provide the certainty and stability needed to ensure the economy keeps improving.

We thank you for considering our views and we look forward to continuing to work with you to provide needed investments in students and education.

[Poll name]

Email A Friend

Send This article to:

Enter the e-mail address of the recipient. Multiple addresses need to be separated by commas (200 characters max).

Add your message (optional):

Enter your e-mail address (required):

NEA respects your privacy! Your e-mail address, and that of your recipient, will be used only in the case of transmission errors and to let the recipient know who sent the story. The information will not be used for any other purpose.